Week 18 stall but trigs down, labs or scale?

Your trigs dropping 180 to 132 while weight stalls is the part I'd focus on. Mine did the same around week 10. Scale was flat but waist moved.

A1c can lag if you started from normal-ish range. Fasting glucose 102 to 96 sounds like the liver is still arguing.

What are you eating on stall weeks? I noticed my protein dropped when appetite came back and that changed everything for me.

NCT04184622 was 2539 people over 72 weeks, but it doesn't say your personal week 16 labs will match. Trial averages hide a lot.

Worth keeping labs and the scale in separate columns. Triglycerides fall hard, HDL creeps up, weight sits there for a month. Annoying but not nothing.

My TSH shifted around my stall, though who knows if related.

The week 12-ish fade gets talked about a lot, but there's a real conflation happening between appetite suppression and actual fat loss. If fasting glucose and trigs are still trending down, there may be metabolic work going on even when the scale is quiet. Weekly averages, not daily weights — that's the only way the noise doesn't wreck your head. A 3-week flat stretch is usually water and constipation, then 4 lbs falls off after a rough weekend. Not glamorous. The 72-week trial design is a better frame than a 3-week window, honestly.

Constipation is real. Ten straight days of a flat stretch on the scale — fiber was what broke it.

HDL 38 to 41? That's the win. What was your trig/HDL ratio?

A1c lags. Waist and fasting insulin tell me more.

I'd be careful calling it a true stall until 4-6 weeks with consistent intake. I did a food log for two weeks and found I was eating about 300 more calories than I thought once the appetite came back. The med didn't stop working, my tracking got loose. Once I tightened protein and steps, the scale started again. The 5/10/15 mg arms in the trial don't tell us much about individual titration timing either.

The trial enrolle d2539 people, so there's no way one person's week 16 is going to look like the average. Keep the lab trend. That's the data I'd want.

Week 14 to week 20 I sat on the same number — 214.6, 214.8, 214.2 — and nearly quit. What actually moved was sleep and timing, not anything I ate. I had a stretch of night shifts averaging 5 hours, and my waist tape froze and even crept up half an inch; back to 7+ hours and it started dropping again. My other accidental experiment was comparing a post-takeout Monday weigh-in to a lean Friday morning and driving myself nuts, so now I do one weekly weigh-in, same day, same conditions, and I fully expect 3-4 week flat stretches. Monthly waist at the navel, monthly photo in the same jeans. If I were adding one number to your list, it'd be waist over fasting insulin — it's free, it doesn't swing on one bad night of sleep, and it caught the fat loss my scale completely missed during weeks 15-19. Food volume stayed the same through that whole stretch, which is why I trusted the tape more than the scale. Also worth saying: 23 lb in 18 weeks with better trigs and HDL is a real trend, not a plateau, even if week 18 feels like one.

My scale hides thee pounds behind one salty takeout weekend, so I stopped asking it for weekly verdicts.

Started lifting twice a week and the scale went up 2 lb for a month while my belt went in a notch.

I'd add hunger to the list of things worth watching. My flat stretches were the weeks I white-knuckled 1,300 calories on bad sleep; when I got protein to roughly 120g and fiber to 30g, I ate more and still lost. If you're not starving and clothes fit looser, that's real progress — the number usually catches up all at once.

Waist tape bat the scale for me right around that same point. I measure at the navel, first thing in the morning, same shorts, once a week — went from 41 to 37.5 inches across a stretch where the scale sat flat for 4 straight weeks. At week 18 a 3-week plateau is pretty normal once things settle in; the early drop carries a lot of inflammation and water that quietly stalls out. What surprised me was resting heart rate falling about 8 bpm during the flat stretch, which I did not expect at all. So now I keep the tape, a monthly photo in the same mirror light, and I only look at the scale as a Sunday average. Glucose 102 to 96 and trigs 180 to 132 is a real win no matter what the scale is doing.

I'd put sleep above fasting insulin for a while, honestly. I sleep 5.5 hours and the scale sits; 7.5 and it slides down 1-2 lb over the week with nothing else changed. I logged 6 weeks of it and the pattern was embarrassingly plain: under 6 hours flat, over 7 moving. Boring answer, but it's what my own numbers showed.

Disagree with going fully scale-blind, for wat it's worth. I did blinders for 6 weeks and came back up 4 lb because I stopped watching portions and started grazing at night. I weigh daily but only act on the 7-day average, so no single day can wreck my head. Different strokes though — if the daily number spikes your stress, the tape is a fine substitute.

The timeline part deserves saying out loud: weeks 16-22 seem to be where a lot of us go flat, and it is usually not a sign anything broke. I was stuck weeks 17-21, changed nothing except adding a 20-minute walk after dinner, then dropped 6 lb over the next 5 weeks. Numbers I wish I'd tracked earlier: days per week I actually hit a protein target, and whether I slept. Clothes too — scale frozen at week 18 while a pair of pants I couldn't button in March buttoned by June. I'd go waist plus one photo a month and treat trigs and HDL as the long scoreboard. A 48-point trig drop is not nothing.

I stalled for 5 weeks around week 15-20, but my waist went from 38 to 36.5 and my resting heart rate dropped 6 bpm. The weird part? The scale finally broke after I stopped weighing daily and started tracking how my jeans fit on Sunday mornings instead. I was eating the same calories, but my weekend sodium was swinging almost 3,000 mg, which was hiding the fat loss. Now I weigh only Wednesdays and measure my waist every other week — 23 lb in 18 weeks with trigs dropping like yours means the engine is running fine, the gas gauge is just lagging.

I track sleep like a hawk now because my stall around week 14 wasn't about food — I was averaging 5.5 hours a night, stressed, and my waist stayed put even while my fasting glucose dropped 8 points. Once I got back to 7+ hours, my waist lost 1.5 inches over three weeks with the scale barely budging. So if you're looking for a non-scale metric, try measuring your neck or how a specific pair of jeans sits at 8pm versus 8am — water shifts can fake a plateau. What's your sleep and stress looking like lately?

Week 18 is exactly when I started taking a photo in the same doorway every Sunday morning, and here's the weird part: my week 20 and week 26 photos look like two different people even though the scale only moved 2.4 lb in that stretch. So if you're choosing a metric, I'd actually argue against fasting insulin — mine bounced between 6 and 11 across three draws with nothing changed except one late dinner and a rough night's sleep, which is the exact kind of noise that makes a stall feel ten times worse than it is. What tracked with actual fat loss for me was resting heart rate on my watch and how the stairs at work felt, plus that monthly side photo. Also, gut check on water: I sat at the same number for 3 weeks, ate a pile of salty birthday takeout, jumped 4 lb overnight, and by day 6 was 1.5 lb below where I'd been stuck. There's a decent chance you've been losing the whole time and the scale's just been holding the water line.

Week 18 was my scale dead zone too—three weeks locked inside 0.4 lb while my resting HR dropped from 67 to 60 and my wedding ring went from tight to sliding off in the shower. The weird reversal: the scale finally moved after a pizza-and-more-carbs weekend, not after my “perfect” high-protein week, which made me realize I was probably fighting water and stress noise. I’d track a 7-day average plus one non-scale item that doesn’t lie as easily, like a specific belt notch or ring, before adding fasting insulin at this stage; A1c lags anyway, and trigs 180→132 plus HDL 38→41 is a solid directional win. If you already have an old fasting insulin number, though, I’d be curious whether it was low-normal—that would change how much signal I’d expect from it.

I’d stop letting the scale be the only vote. The trial you cited lists waist circumference as a secondary endpoint, so I

At goal/ maintaining now. My long stall was weeks 17–20: scale stayed within 1 lb, but waist at navel dropped almost 2 inches. I measured first thing, same spot, exhaled, no sucking in. Also your trig/HDL ratio went from about 4.7 to 3.2—that’s a real directional shift. A1c lags because it’s a 3-month average, so I wouldn’t let it cancel out the fasting glucose and trigs. Sharp question: are you tracking waist at the same landmark and time of day? For me, waist plus a pair of “goal jeans” broke the tie long before the scale moved again.

Same thing happened to me around week 17: scale sat within 1 lb for almost a month, but trigs went from 160s to 110s and HDL ticked up. What moved before the scale was waist at navel (−1.25 in) and a pair of jeans going from tight to normal. I started logging waist every 2 weeks and BP weekly; scale was last to budge. Did your panel include fasting insulin or hs-CRP? Those were more informative for me than A1c during a stall. Also, are you measuring waist at the same time of day? Morning before food/water made my numbers way less noisy.

Just my own experience, Not your exact numbers, but I had a 4-week flat stretch while my waist dropped ~2 cm and trigs/HDL moved in the right direction. My mechanism guess: visceral/liver fat can shrink before the scale catches up, especially with fluid shifts or a bit of lean mass. I stopped daily weighing and do a monthly waist-to-height plus neck tape check. In the trials, weight is primary, but they also track waist and cardiometabolic markers for a reason. Have you measured waist at the same landmark yet? I added fasting insulin, which felt more informative for me than A1c alone.

I’d use waist + same-lab fasting trigs as the tiebreaker. I had a 5-week scale flat around month 4: trigs 160→118, HDL up 6, weight ±1 lb, but waist down 2.5 cm. What changed? I added 2x/week resistance and ate more sodium/carbs around training—water retention masked fat loss. Are your labs drawn at the same lab and same fasted window? If yes, I’d stop letting the scale drive decisions.

I had a similar split: scale flat for about 4 weeks, but my waist at navel and 2 inches below dropped ~1.5 inches, and my trigs fell from 166 to 121. What helped me decide was tracking both weekly, plus a monthly neck measurement — neck went down 0.5 in while weight didn’t budge. My fasting glucose also bounced around depending on how late I ate and hydration, so I started noting those next to my labs. Did your waist or how a specific pair of jeans fits change during these 3 weeks? That might tell you more than the scale right now.

My scale stalled weeks 15–20, but waist at umbilicus dropped 4 cm and trig/HDL ratio went 4.7 to 3.2. Fasting insulin lagged about four weeks. I measure at end of exhale, same landmark, flexible tape, once weekly. Scale eventually caught up.

In your case, the lipid shift is a better early signal than A1c, which moves slowly. Sharp question: are you tracking waist at a fixed landmark, or just weight? If yes, what’s the trend?

I saw a similar three-week plateau in my weekly averages while my resting heart rate and sleep score quietly improved. The scale caught up later. What helped was comparing four-week blocks rather than single weeks and logging steps, sleep, and strength sessions alongside. When those were stable, I trusted the broader lab trend more than any one weigh-in. Have your steps or sleep changed recently? For me, a temporary water and glycogen shift can easily mask fat loss for a few weeks, especially after a new routine.

late-night gaming is the hidden variable for me. during a 3-week flat around wk 16 my sleep went to crap and i was grazing 11pm-2am while queuing. swapped the 2am soda for sparkling water + lime, kept pre-portioned jerky at the desk instead of chips, and tried to close the kitchen after 10. scale started creeping down about 10 days later, no other big changes. not saying that's your issue, but have you tracked late-night intake or sleep? sometimes the scale is just lagging behind the habit stuff.

Honestly, I’ve got two kids and week 18-ish was my flat patch too. Scale sat still, but my ring slid around and I quit crashing at 3pm. The sneaky thing for me was the ‘mom tax’—cold nuggets, crusts, cheese cubes I’d grab while packing lunches or unloading the dishwasher. I tracked it for three days and it was easily 200–300 extra calories I never logged. Now the snack drawer has pre-cut peppers and seltzer at eye level, and I take a Sunday pic in the same leggings instead of relying on the scale. Are you eating more of their leftovers now that your appetite is different? That was my hidden variable.

I stalled weeks 14–18 and the scale was glued. What finally helped my brain was tracking resting heart rate and how my rings fit—RHR dropped 6 bpm even while weight sat flat. My local pharmacy tech also mentioned insurance reauth usually wants current BMI, not labs, which is annoying since your trigs/HDL are clearly moving. Curious: did your fasting insulin or ALT budge at all? Those sometimes shift before the scale does.

I had a 3.5-week flat around week 18 too. The non-scale thing that actually moved for me was gym performance: scale stuck 214.6→214.2, but my row went 35→45 lb and resting HR dropped 68→61. Progress photos in the same bathroom light finally looked different around week 22. Are you logging any strength or HR numbers? That’s what I’d add—cheap, quick, and it gave me a signal that wasn’t the scale or a lab draw.

Hi, I’m brand new—week one—so I’m mostly here to learn. Your trigs and HDL moving while the scale is flat is the kind of thing that made me want to track waist/hip measurements, not just weight. Did your waist or how your jeans fit change during those three flat weeks? Sorry if that’s a basic question, but I’m trying to set up my own tracking so I don’t panic at every flat week.

Spreadsheet nerd here. I’d separate scale from composition. During my wk 10–13 flat, my 7-day median was flat (-0.04 lb/wk), but waist was -0.75 in and trigs dropped 34 points. I also looked at NCT04184622 — those 72-week curves hide ugly flat patches. I started logging sodium and carb timing, and the whoosh showed up 9 days after a high-sodium weekend, not after any training change. A1c is a slow boat; my trigs/HDL moved way before it did. What does your waist or a consistent tape measure say over those three weeks? That tells me more than the trial average.

a1c is basically a laggy minimap: ~3 month memory, so wk 18 is still mixing old you with new you. mine didn’t budge until way later even when fasting glucose was already down. sleep might be the hidden variable—when i logged my trash late-night gaming nights vs morning glucose, bad sleep showed up 2 days later, not next morning. what’s your actual sleep window? that’d tell you more than staring at wk 18 scale, imo.

Hi, I’m brand new—week one—so sorry if this is a basic question. I’ve read that A1c can lag behind fasting glucose and trigs because it reflects a few months of red blood cells, so maybe it’s just slower to tell the same story? Does your trash sleep line up with the flat weeks, or is that unrelated? I’m trying to learn what to track besides the scale, and this thread is helping.

Sleep is the lever I’d look at here. When mine went to crap for a month, scale stalled but my resting HR was up 6 bpm and I was holding water like a sponge. Trigs/HDL moving is a good sign. A1c is a slow laggard — mine didn’t shift until ~4 months after trigs did. Is your sleep trash a recent thing or has it been consistent since week 1?

Sleep trash would be my first suspect. During my 6-week flat around week 14, my scale did nothing, but my average resting HR was up 6 bpm and I was waking at 3am. Once sleep came back for 4-5 nights, the scale dropped 3 lb almost overnight. None of that was fat, just water/inflammation noise. The trigs drop is a huge signal—mine lagged behind the scale too. Sharp question: are you tracking anything besides wight that changed lately, like waist tape, ring fit, or how stairs feel? For me, those moved while the scale sulked. I’d keep leaning on labs/measurements and not let week 18 freak you out.

Contrarian take: the scale is the least useful column in your spreadsheet right now. I had a similar 3-week flat at week 16–18, but my navel waist dropped 1.6 cm and hips 1.1 cm. Trigs fell 40 points like yours. If you're not taping weekly, start — same time, fasted, exhale normal. My trendline of waist vs. weight shwed a 3-week lag before scale caught up. Also, are you weighing daily and using a 7-day average? Raw daily numbers are noise. What's your waist trend over those 18 weeks?

what's your waist doing? Scale flat for 3 weeks while trigs drop 48 points and HDL ticks up screams recomp to me, not a real stall. I lift 4x too and when sleep goes sideways my weight holds water like a sponge, but tape at navel and strength numbes keep moving. I'd track weekly waist and a mid-week weight average before trusting any single scale read. Are you measuring anywhere besides the scale?

One thing that helped me during a similar flat stretch was adding waist circumference and a monthly average rather than daily weights. My scale sat still for about five weeks, but my waist dropped 1.5 inches and my triglycerides-to-HDL ratio improved. That kept me from overcorrecting during a stressful stretch. Have you been measuring your waist at the same spot and time of day

The sleep piece stands out to me. When mine was trash—waking at 2–3am, not just short—my scale froze for almost a month while my waist dropped about 1.5 inches. I only caught it because I measured at the navel and hips first thing, same tape, before coffee. Resting HR was up 4–5 bpm too. Are you waking overnight, or is it more trouble falling asleep? If it’s wakeups, I’d be curious whether a stretch of better sleep shifts the scale before your next labs. That trial is useful for population trends, but at week 18 you’re still early; your trigs/HDL already look like they’re responding.

those trigs and HDL moves are genuinely a big deal — I’d be framing that as a win even while A1c lags. For the flat scale, do you have waist/hip measurements or goal jeans from week 0? When I stalled around a similar point, scale didn’t move for five weeks but waist dropped almost an inch and resting heart rate came down a few bpm. If training is steady, scale can be the worst feedback tool for a bit. What’s your waist trend since week 0?